The prior art provided various types of dental devices and methods for the cleaning of teeth as well as the massaging of the gum tissue. For example, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 30,536, "Ultrasonic Device and Method," issued on Mar. 3, 1981, shows an apparatus which utilizes an ultrasonically driven head in conjunction with a spray of liquid or slurry containing abrasive material to operate as a cutting or cleaning tool in dental operations. As a second example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,133, "Hand Held Periodontic Tool," issued on Apr. 3, 1990, discloses a hand held periodontic tool which vibrates a flexible tip for use in massaging gum tissue, but which cannot be used for dental flossing. Such prior art devices, however, are typically unable to reach the area between the portion of the tooth located beneath the gum tissue surface and the gum tissue itself (interdental papilla). This area was generally cleaned with dental floss.
However, the use of dental floss can be somewhat cumbersome. In many instances there are contact areas between the teeth (i.e., portions of the crowns of the teeth are closely adjacent or touching), typically at the top of the crown. In order for floss to be received between the teeth, it is generally necessary for the floss to be forced between the teeth from above, and must pass through any contact area. However, such contact areas often do not provide adequate space to permit passage of the floss. This tends to result in the floss shredding or breaking rather than passing between the teeth. In such instances, some manner of threading device must be employed.
Devices which dispose a strand of floss between rigid arms of a forked or "U" shaped tip to facilitate flossing are available. Electrical flossing devices which reciprocate such a tip are also known. An example of such a device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,253, issued Nov. 25, 1980, to D. A. Moore.
Thus, although the prior art discloses a variety of devices for the cleaning of the exposed surfaces of the teeth and for the massaging of the gum tissue, and devices to facilitate flossing, there remains a need for a device to more effectively and efficiently clean or floss the area not only between the teeth, but also the area between the interdental papilla and the interproximal surface of the tooth.